Who is the real Novell buyer? Microsoft
When discussing the latest events around the sale of Novell and the fate of the Mono project, a link to the article “Who really bought Novell? Microsoft. I hope that my translation of this article will be useful to someone.
Who is the real Novell buyer? Of course, I know that Attachmate is listed in the “buyer” column. According to official information, Attachmate acquired Novell for $ 2.2 billion, and Microsoft, participating in the transaction, for $ 450 million becomes the owner of only certain intellectual property. But tell me, where does Attachmate come from? $ 2.2 billion? Maybe she took them from Microsoft? I think that's the way it is.
I have been familiar with Attachmate for several years now, and I have a good idea of what kind of company it is. That's why I can't figure out where the hell they got money for Novell? Over the years, Attachmate’s main business has been selling terminal emulation software. This is a category of software that has stagnated since the early 90s, since the Web appeared.
')
Well, think for yourself who now needs a 3270 terminal emulator for the mainframe, or a VT-102 for a mini-computer, or even a Windows version of X-term? There are very few people who still need such things. Even with the products of NetIQ (security management software), Attachmate is a niche company in the declining segment of the IT industry. They had no chance to save billions to buy Novell.
There is also no synergy between Attachmate and Novell products. From a business point of view, this deal could make sense in the late 80s or early 90s, when personal computer-based X terminals were much more useful in working with Unix and Linux servers than they are now. But today, in my opinion, this transaction is meaningless in the form in which it was presented to the public.
However, buying makes sense if the money is actually “taken from the wallet” of Microsoft.
First, it is an excellent tactical move that prevents Novell SUSE Linux from moving into the hands of VMware . The last thing Microsoft would like is for VMware, its main rival in the field of cloud computing and virtualization, to offer its customers also an operating system. Microsoft is now quite difficult for its Hyper-V hypervisor and Azure cloud platform. It would be very inappropriate to compete with VMware also in the area of OS.
This purchase is also a good strategic move. If VMware, or any of the other strong, independent companies, had acquired SUSE Linux, the new owner could easily distance himself from the Novell partnership with Microsoft. For Microsoft, it is important to keep a “bridge” to Linux. In its ideal world, Microsoft would like all servers to be running Windows Server 2008 R2, but even at Microsoft they understand that practically this will never happen. And thanks to a partnership with Novell, Microsoft is able to offer its customers an interoperable solution.
But, why did not Microsoft itself buy Novell? Because she can't do it. Any careless move in the direction of Linux will inevitably lead to a long and unpleasant antitrust case. And this is not a lawsuit that Microsoft could win. ;-)
Microsoft may have been able to become a buyer of a Linux company, but do not forget that Novell also owns intellectual property on Unix. Despite the fact that the share of "real" Unix, such as Solaris and AIX, is declining in the market, their "descendants" (including Linux and Mac OS X) are everywhere.
Instead, Microsoft uses Attachmate as a proxy to get Novell, as an independent Linux company, in the “chess game” of operating systems. As a result, Microsoft will retain direct control over Novell and its intellectual property in order to bring them into the game and put it in the path of Red Hat, Android, or Ubuntu, if necessary.
I have no evidence for you. Both Attachmate and Microsoft will carefully hide what exactly they bought and what they plan to do with Novell. The only thing I possess is a ten-year observation of what methods Microsoft uses in competition. From this point of view, it seems that such actions are characteristic of Microsoft.
Maybe I am wrong. If so, further events will show that my fears were unfounded. But I fear that this will not happen and, ultimately, Novell’s sale will hurt all Linux companies. Time will tell.
Who is the real Novell buyer? Of course, I know that Attachmate is listed in the “buyer” column. According to official information, Attachmate acquired Novell for $ 2.2 billion, and Microsoft, participating in the transaction, for $ 450 million becomes the owner of only certain intellectual property. But tell me, where does Attachmate come from? $ 2.2 billion? Maybe she took them from Microsoft? I think that's the way it is.
I have been familiar with Attachmate for several years now, and I have a good idea of what kind of company it is. That's why I can't figure out where the hell they got money for Novell? Over the years, Attachmate’s main business has been selling terminal emulation software. This is a category of software that has stagnated since the early 90s, since the Web appeared.
')
Well, think for yourself who now needs a 3270 terminal emulator for the mainframe, or a VT-102 for a mini-computer, or even a Windows version of X-term? There are very few people who still need such things. Even with the products of NetIQ (security management software), Attachmate is a niche company in the declining segment of the IT industry. They had no chance to save billions to buy Novell.
There is also no synergy between Attachmate and Novell products. From a business point of view, this deal could make sense in the late 80s or early 90s, when personal computer-based X terminals were much more useful in working with Unix and Linux servers than they are now. But today, in my opinion, this transaction is meaningless in the form in which it was presented to the public.
However, buying makes sense if the money is actually “taken from the wallet” of Microsoft.
First, it is an excellent tactical move that prevents Novell SUSE Linux from moving into the hands of VMware . The last thing Microsoft would like is for VMware, its main rival in the field of cloud computing and virtualization, to offer its customers also an operating system. Microsoft is now quite difficult for its Hyper-V hypervisor and Azure cloud platform. It would be very inappropriate to compete with VMware also in the area of OS.
This purchase is also a good strategic move. If VMware, or any of the other strong, independent companies, had acquired SUSE Linux, the new owner could easily distance himself from the Novell partnership with Microsoft. For Microsoft, it is important to keep a “bridge” to Linux. In its ideal world, Microsoft would like all servers to be running Windows Server 2008 R2, but even at Microsoft they understand that practically this will never happen. And thanks to a partnership with Novell, Microsoft is able to offer its customers an interoperable solution.
But, why did not Microsoft itself buy Novell? Because she can't do it. Any careless move in the direction of Linux will inevitably lead to a long and unpleasant antitrust case. And this is not a lawsuit that Microsoft could win. ;-)
Microsoft may have been able to become a buyer of a Linux company, but do not forget that Novell also owns intellectual property on Unix. Despite the fact that the share of "real" Unix, such as Solaris and AIX, is declining in the market, their "descendants" (including Linux and Mac OS X) are everywhere.
Instead, Microsoft uses Attachmate as a proxy to get Novell, as an independent Linux company, in the “chess game” of operating systems. As a result, Microsoft will retain direct control over Novell and its intellectual property in order to bring them into the game and put it in the path of Red Hat, Android, or Ubuntu, if necessary.
I have no evidence for you. Both Attachmate and Microsoft will carefully hide what exactly they bought and what they plan to do with Novell. The only thing I possess is a ten-year observation of what methods Microsoft uses in competition. From this point of view, it seems that such actions are characteristic of Microsoft.
Maybe I am wrong. If so, further events will show that my fears were unfounded. But I fear that this will not happen and, ultimately, Novell’s sale will hurt all Linux companies. Time will tell.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/119447/
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